r
i
Mill
VOL. XXVIII.
LAKKVIKW, LAKK COUNTY, OIJKGON, THURSDAY, MAK. M, 1907.
NO. 1 1
GASTON WRITESON
CENTRAL OREGON
Otic of the Coming wheat
Raising Sections.
GRAIN. HAT. STOCK AND MINES.
(laftton Traveled 700 nilc
5lcds and 5leigh and
Never Caught Cold.
in
Joseph Gnstou of l'irtliiul, linn fav
ored Tint Kxmti iii-r with n copy, of t do
Sunset Msgalnc, In which 1m pub
lished a write-up of Central Oregon,
entitled "Oregon's Inland Empire."
It will tin remembered tlmt Mr. Joseph
Gaston passed through Lakeview hi
.1 n ii 11 ti ry 1n;, and In tho March, I'.ni"
IIUIIlIxT .if SlIIIHI't Magll7.ini! tells of
IiIm trip, iiml accurately pen pictures
Tnt nil ( Ircgou Mini it viimI fnliir.i
possibilities. Mr. Gaston writes Tin!
Kxu.iiiiHT (In following letter:
l'ortliui'l, Oregon, March 4, i:'7.
Ivlitor Kxatniucr :
l).nr Sir:
lly thin mail I am sending you un
der separate iMir, i ropy of the
M l Magaine, containing mi
article on CENTRAL OREGON, which
I trust you w ill lake thi lllicrty to
criticise, lis you deem best, iiml send
tun a copy of your pnper containing
tin- criticism, with a view of maiding
hid to make Improvement in u subsc
pient article, I tun Intending to write
oil Eastern Oregon.
In the article to which 1 Iiiivh called
your iittentioti, tin editor of tlm Sun
Hilt Mllgallle, iiiulcr the plea of "want
of roinu" took tlio liberty of cuii'ink
out h great deal of my article, includ
ing illustration of Klamath Falls,
Ivikovlow, I'riueville mid, ('mi yon
City; iiIho lid put in Homo illustrations
that iliil not belong to tlio country.
Ko that you will understand that
the article as it up pea ra in not 'just
what 1 prepared.
Very Truly Yours,
J. Gllfttoll.
Hut after mi rein I tint article, wo fail
.! to Iiml a basis for criticism.
There might Ii" especial inentiiill
iiiikIk of certain movement now on
foot in Lake county for the exploita
tion of tin country, hut these things
were not in exintuuen when Mr. Gaston
visited thin Hect ion, ami hU at lent ion
hurt lieen called to tlltMii hy private let
ter from Tlio Examiner, for (he pur
pose of furnishing hi in (lata for future
article, Below wo pulli.li Mr ( inn-
ton'H article, so far an intereht attach
i'ii tu thiri particular portion of the
teiritory embraced:
Central Oregon, Hocalleil, in tho
Kreat plateau in the Hunt lieiiMt corner
of Hid state, practically two hundred
nnd llfty miles square, iiml yet wholly
destitute of railroiid transportation
lhis Kreat interior region, fust of
tho Cascade mountains, him been well
named the 'Inland Empire." A great
daily paper recently remarked that
"Eastern Orogou, as yet is u googrup
hical expression, and its poteiitlalitieH
nro as yet unknown. "First, cousid
orod hy tho white pioneers, who
liruvely throuded its vust areas, an n
desert waste, lit only for wandorfug
hands of Indians; next, deemed usoful
only to the venturesome cowboy of
the plains and tho still more reckless
seeker of (fold in lonely mountain
gulches, we come down to the time
when a few permanent settlers, regard
ed as still more crazy than all their
predecessors, sowed wheat on the bhko
brush plains of tho Umatilla; and
then, at loust three of tho great poten
tialities of that regiou tuiulug, stock
raising and wheat growing were prov
ou to be reliable resources of vast
wealth in a regluii originally consid
ered barren and uninhabitable. East
em Oregon has been, indeed, an en
igma and a surprise; nnd tho Central
Oregon region is the best reprcHiitatlve
of tho distinctive features of the
whole Eastern Oregon country.
It is the purposo of this article to
truthfully set forth the climate, re
sources and advantages for settlement
of this great region, which bus been,
within a few days before this writing
dool ared to be, by a man who has
been over all the Lnlted States hunt
log large tracts of lund to sell, "The
last low-prloed tract of desirable lauds
located iu a white man's country, with
n charming climate, left on this con
tinent today. "
Here tlm writer gives a geological
history of the country, which, while
of vast Interest, render the article
too voluminous for reinibliciitloii in
I .a country newspaper.
Touching on the soil, lie Nays:
The soil of this region is distinctly
volcanic, Wlille In tho great basins,
like tho Klamath, (loose Lake mid
Harney valley, there Is a very large
addition of vegetal iln mould, it is in
tlicxn localities, ns everywhere else,
largely and thoroughly mixed, with
volcanic ashes and the detritus of vol
chiiIc rocks. The volcanoes blew out
the sullen, and the winds scattered
them all over the whole region; while
tlm melting and sliding of tho great
Ice cap glacier thoroughly ground to
powder and mixed all these elements
of the soil. Hence, we find here a
soil containing all the mineral fertil
izers, already in place, ready for plant
growth, which other countries have
to purchase nt enormous expense.
Germany has paid Chili two hundred
and llfty million dollars for nitrates
to raise sugar beets and to maintain
the fert ility of IN soil.
'I'h in volcanic soil is what produces
such rapid plant growth. Wheat, in
Eastern Oregon, grows more rapidly
and matures u crop iu shorter time
than elsewhere in Willamette valley.
And for the mine reasons the straw
of Eastern Oregon wheat is stronger
and will stand longer to lie liai vented
than that of wheat iu Wct-tcru Oregon.
All the fruits show the effect of tills i
soil In Eastern Oregon. In hiuhcr flav
or, richer coloring and liner snlihtanco
securing better packing ami lunger
keeping and shipping ipiiilitlen. Ap
ples from Hood Kiver are shipped to
every civilizei' country, keeping per
fectly. Cherries lire shipped from La
(!rande to New York and Loudon.
Straw berries are shipped from White
Salmon and Hood Kiver to Halt Lake,
I leaver and Winnipeg. There Is noth
ing lacking in the soil here for the
most hucci Hsful culture of all kinds of
fruit, grain, vegetables and grasses.
It can be truly said and ought to be
said that the climate of Eastern Ore
gon is mi.st conducive to robust
health, vigor and beauty, of both men
and women. Mr. I', L. Tompkins has
kept it record of the weather at liend.
ami lluils tliat there is uu average of
three hundred sunshiny days in the
year. The great importance of this to
the farmer and outdoor 'v inker needs
no argument. With an average eleva
tion of from three to four thoiisHiid
feet above sea level, with perfect
drainage and no malarial swamps;
with more ozone to the cubic foot of
air than in most other parts of the
world, Die inhabitants enjoy life and
the best of health. The writer of this
paper has been all over this country,
and speaks from actual experience:
First on the top of a stage couch
from Salt Lake to the Columbia, be
fore there was a mile of railroad iu
it; next, from Portland to tho peaks
of Eagle Creek, in linker county, and
tho black sand lilulfs of Nyssa, iu Mnl
neur county ; next, in an open wagon
from Tho Hallos across country to
l'rlnovillo and Horns and down to the
Hurax works, iu tho southeast corner
of tho state, iu November, l'.KCi,
camping mid slccpiug In tho open
every night, the wholo routo and
back to tho Dulles, seven hundred
miles; ami, lastly, from Shun iko to
liend and to Lakovlew and around to
Klamath Falls, through the worst
snowstorm for tweuty years, iu Jan
uary, HXXi, ; four hundred and fifty
miles In sleds and sleighs, with no
additlou to ordinary clothing but an
overcoat. In all this experience ho
never caught cold, never experienced
uncomfortable cold or other discom
fort from the climate, and enjoyed
every mile of hls travel.
It is admitted that the eastern part
of the stato has a dry climate, with
much loss rain fall than -Western
Oregon. The climate was once very
warm and moist. The change resulted
from the elevation of the Cascade
range. Tho westerly winds, carry
ing the moisture from the Pacific,
strlkiug the mountains,dropped their
rain before reaching the eastern oouu-
try. This will surely be modi Hod to
largo extent, as we ahull see here
after in the paragraph on "What
cultivation will do."
We are not printing this for the
farmers of this section, for they see
for themselves ; but for the infor
mation of the many thousand readers
of the Buuset beyoud the boundaries
of the state. Agriculture la the found
ation stone of our national prosperity
aud if the farmers of an agricultural
regiou are not prosperous, then uo-
MORE FOREST RESER
VES FOR THE WEST.
Before Signing Away his Rights President
Creates Additional Reserves.
1'rior to signing tho agricultural sp- velt issued a proclamation creating .Tfl
propriution hill, which contains Hen- forest reserves in the six states spect
ator Fulton's amendment prohibiting ed by the Fulton amendment. Ills
the creation of forest reserves in tho proclamations add 4.051, (XXI acres to
Northwestern states except by tho au
thority of Congress, President Itoose-
body else in that region is prosperous.
The production of horses, cattle,
sheep and wool, has been and is yet
the great industry here. In this busi
ness more men have gotten rich, com
pared to the population, than iu any
other state, or compared with tho suc
cessful men in an eijual population
jn
any other htate.
Whole pages of tho names and iitf'
dresses of men might be given who
have inadi) their fortunes iu this way
here, and have retired to live in Port
Ian J and other cities.
In many cases these mii hud noth
ing to start with but good health and
strung arms, going out to tho range
to herd cattle or sheep at forty dol
lars n month, saving their earnings
and putting them into n little bunch
of cattle or sheep at the first opportu
nity. Tlw name of one such man in
Lake county could be given who, fif
teen years ago, commenced with one
thousand sheep, herding them himself,
ami by attention to his business, has,
alone and uuuided, amassed a fortune
of a quarter of a million of dollars;
selling last year, horses, sheep and
wool, from his own stock, to the
amount of fH.',000.0(i. The opportuni
ties are not all exhausted yet, and
wont be for many years; while the at
tractive life of stockraisiug will con
tinue always, after the grain lands
are taken, for stock will lsj sucessful'
raised on the hills and mountain slop
es for all time. Oregon's place is
sixth among tho states in ho produc
tion of sheep and wool; with last year
r.0.) two million sheep aud sixteen
million pounds of wool; and selling
on foot one million mutton sheep. A
single central Malheur sold last
year seventeen housand head of beef
cattle, three thousand three hudred
and llfty well bred horses, and two
hundred aud forty-eight thousand
sheep; all of which were shipped from
the new town of Ontario.
Tho beef cattle ranks next to sheep
in importance and productive wealth
tho cattle getting fat on the range
aud being shipped tA market," not
only of the Pacitlc coast, but east, by
rail, to tho great packing houses of
Chicago. Hreeding horses for export
while not so important as the cattle
aud sheep interests, is yet a projjtahlo
industry, large numbers being ship
ped to the eastern states; and during
the wars this regiou furnished thous
ands of horses to the British army in
South Africa ana to the Japanese Army
iu Manchuria. All t his livestock bring
ing iu millions of dollars, grazes free
oh public laud ; and the ouly expense
of tho owners is in herding, branding,
rounding up, aud cutting aud stack
ing enough alfalfa hay to carry the
hords over a few weeks of snow iu the
winter. No protection from the wea
STANDING THE OLD
The EUphanti "Really, Theodore,
the reserve area of Oregon, 4,240,000
acres in Washington and 0,OLO acres
in Idaho.
thnr is provided, and the wiuter graz
ing on bunch grass is ijuite as good as
upon the green grass iu springtime.
Next to live stock in importance
is the w heat crop. Once though im
practicable to raise wheat on the suge
brush plains, now there are annually j
; over ten million biinhcls shipped from
Em-tern Oregon. The crop averages
from twenty to forty bushels an acre,
aud some tiinen runs up to fifty bush
els an ecre. The quality is first class,
and most of it is now harvested with
the combined header and thresher,
drawn through the fields by thirty
horses or by a traction engine. Al
though wheat was sold as low as thir
ty cents a bushel in 1894, yet the pan
ic passed by and thousands of men
have been made rich and independent)
for life by their bountiful harvests.
This section does not yet raise wheat
for export, for want of rail transpor-
tation. but it has the capacity to raise
and to sell to the world fifty million
bushels annually, ju.t as soon as the!
railroad is there to to haul it away.
And with equal facility the soil pro
duces oats, barley aud rye.
(Continued Next Week.)
Paisley Irrigation Scheme.
A large irrigation contract was en
tered into lietween the state laud
board aud tho Portland Irrigation
Company, which involves $421,000,
and the reclamation of 12.0X acres of
desert laud near Paisley, in the north
ern part of Lake County, the contract
is to bo iu elfect six mouths after tho
United Stutes government has con
tracted with the state to turn over
this land for reclamation purposes.
By the terms of tho contract with
tho irrigatiou cnyipauy, any oue who
is a bona tide citizen of the United
States can settle on 100 acres of land J
within this area described in the con - j
tract, by agreeing to pay flrty cents au i
acre assessed for the reclamation lien I
thereon and w hen SO per cent, is paid
iu, the land becomes the settler's and j
a deed for the lund is made over to
him.
The contract was signed at a meet
ing of the state laud board over which
Governor Chamberlain presided, and
is considered a very good one in many
respects. It is estimated that the
work of reclamation will cost the com
pany $25 per acre, wtile the contract
with the state will cost the state but
t'V. It is even figured that it may
cost the company more than $25 in
some instances. They are to build a
large reservoir eighty feet high,
about fifteen miles above the lands
to be reclaimed, ou the Chewaucan
river, with a storing capacity of
water sufficient to do the work of re
clamation. The company agrees to
UN ON HIS HEAD.
this
doesn't m digalfUdl"
Cleveland Plain Doeler
'
maintain all dams, main canals, lat
erals, flumes, works and piers, which
are to remain their property.
No land shall be sold before the date
of reclamation, and the company noti
fied that they can sell lands. The
company agrees that they will deliver
between iMay 2-1 and September 1 o'
each year, two acre feet of water for
each acre of land for ordinary irriga
tion purposes. The contract is a vol
uminous document, setting forth In
detail the work of reclamation, and
embodies maps and blue prints of tb
section of land to be reclaimed, cuts
off dams, and other work on the
canals, etc.
Abe Brown Lsses
After winning $100,000, Abe Brown
of Tonopab, part ow ner of the Tono
pab Club, a gambling house of that
city, drops ?400,000 in the same sit
ting, and saunters around town next
day as nonchalantly as if nothing out
of tho ordinary bad occurred.
Of the 100,000 which was lost in
the space of less than twenty-four
hours, 100,000 was previous winning
j in t'e same game, and $100,000 more
j is balanced by the one-third interest
I which the gambler held in the club so
that the actual net loss to Brown in
the single game was fiOO.OOO.
Biown's partners in the club, are
Kennedy ot Tonopah, and George
Wiugfleld, the milliouair mining m?.n
of Goldfleld. During the play, the
regular limit wag raised to 83,000 and
this amount was thrown by Brown re
peatedly on a single turn as carelessly
as the ordinary player would place a
two bit chip.
The money placed by Brown at Faro
Jubtedly the Ingest sum ever
0rit ,r a single sitting. It
" un'1?rtod e bulkjof bis ob-
ligation was squared with Mohawk
mining stock. Reno Journal.
Stock Soles this Week.
C. V. Withers was down form Pais-
ey last ween to attend tDe BtocKien e
meeting. bilo bore be sold a- bqnd
of 900 dry ewes to Walter Pa.xton, for
the sheep buyer, Gilford. Mr. Paxton
has bought up about 2500 bead for
Mr. Gilford. The price paid for the
Withers sheep was $3.50 per head after
shearing, and for the others Mr. Pax
ton paid $3 and $3.50 after shearing.
He wants several more bands.
F. M. Green, foreman for the XL
cuttle company, last week purchased
George ilankin's band of cattle, num
bering about 1400 head. In the lot
were 150 fine beef steers that Mr.
liaukins had been feeding for beef
all winter. Mr. Green will send his
vauqueros up after the beef this week,
aud he is to receive the remainder of
the band in April. He will let the
beef tuke the grass this summer aud
by full he will have the tiaest bunch
of steers in the country.
Jim Small was down from Silver
Lake for the stockmeu's meeting and
returned home the first of the week.
While here he bought the F. U. Bauers
baud ofcsttle, numbering about 400
head.
The Cedarville Record sajs that Geo.
C. Turner has returned from Reno,
where he went a short time ago with
a large shipment of floe beef cattle.
M. WingUeld purchased between 100
and 150 head of stock cattle from T.
B. aud S. P. Vernou.
The 70 Cattle Co. purchased about
GO bead of stock cattle from E. T.
Bishop.
F. M. Green purchased 60 or 70 head
of cattle from Jim McDermot.
H New Cabinet.
The reconstruction of the President's
cabinet last Monday, leaves the heads
of the great national government as
now constituted as follows;. Secre
tary of State Elihu Root, New york.
Secretary of Treasury, George B.
Cortelyou, New York. Secretary of
War, William II. Taft, Ohio. Secre
tary of Navy, Victor II. Metcalf, of
California. Attorney-General, Chas.
J. Bonaparte, Marylaud. Postmaster
General, George Von L. Meyer. Mass
achusetts. Secretary of Interior,
James R. Garfield, Ohio. Secretary
ot Commerce and Labor, Oscar Strauss
New York. Secretary of Agriculture,
Jamea Wilson, Iowa.
Mr. ii. Spery, a Fresno, Calif., min
ing man, who has been in the Windy
Hollow mining district for the past
few weeks, returned to Lakeview Tues
day on his way to California. Mr.
prospects la the Windy Hollow coun
try, almost as good, he says, as any
ha has seen anywhere.
STOCKMEN HOLD
THEIRJtfEETIHG.
Range is Divided Between
Stock Raisers.
ONE HUNDRED STOCKMEN MEET.
Meetings to be Held at Paisley
and Silver Lake this
Week and next.
About 1C0 stockmen, representing
the sheep, cattle and horse industries
of this section of Oregon, weie pres
ent at the stockmen's meeting beld in
Lakeview last week for the purpose of
dividing up the range within the
Goose Lake Forest reserve, in re
sponse to a call from Forest Inspector
Erickson. The meeting was called to
order by Mr. Erickson in the Court
House last Friday jnorning, when be
explained the purpose of the meeting
and the objects which be desired to
accomplish. The forest officials bad
sub-divided the Goose Lake reserve
into four sections, namely, the south
east portion of the reserve being Divi
sion No. 3, the northeast portion Di
vision No. 2, the southwest Division
No. '. - th .west portion Divi
sion ' had been prepared
of eacu which were maped
out the o... .(ib-division applied
for by the various stockmen of that
division. A committee waa then ap
pointed for each division, composed
of three sheepmen and three cattle and
horse men, and the committees 'set to
work to adjust lines and act upon the
bona fide rights of individual stock
men to irt2n portion of Hjirjuge.
applied for.
The first thing to do was to form
lines, sub-dividing each portion of
the reserve into cattle and horse sec
tions and sheep sections. In this
work some of the committee agreed at
once, while some failed utterly. The
committee for Division No. 3, embrac
ing the territory east "of the lake.
could not agree on a line separating
the cattle and horse range from the
sheep range, but Mr. Erickson gained
sufficient knowledge of the wants and
rights of the people to allow him to
form a fair conclusion, and be will'
form the line, which will divide the
range, nearly along the summit of the
mouutain, the sheep taking the east
ern portion aud the cattle the western.
In the northern part of the reserve,
the north line of which is three miles
south of Paisley, a territroy called the
Little Cbewaucau all iu one bedy was
given the cattle and horses and the
remainder sub-divided iuto allotments
for sheep, each sheep owuer being
allowed to turn a certaiu number of
sheep, upon his particular allotment
and each cattle owner allowed pastur
age for a number, designated by him
in his application, within (.the cattle
district as a whole. Trails were laid
out, about a half-mile wide leading to
the di tie rent allotments, over which
stock may be moved at any time.
Up to the present time no adjust
ment has been made of that portion
of the reserve lying in Klamath coun
ty north of township line between Ts.
35 and 30 as no agreement could be i
reached between the different interests
aa to a divisoin of the range into cattle
districts aud sheep districts.
Five or six applications for range
were rejected, these being from sheep
men who owned "no land contiguous
to the range applied for, and had hot
used range in the area now comprised
within the reserve except for one or
two years.
To-morrow a meeting will be held at
Paisley for the purpose of adjusting
allotments in the southern portion of
the Fremont reserve, and on the 20th j
of this month a meeting will' be held
at Silver Lake to arrange the division
or ttie range in me nonnern part
of
the Fremont.
A fall graizng season for sheep pro
vided for, extends from October 15th
to November 15th. The grating fee
for this season baa been fixed at one
and one-half cents per bead.
The total number of cattle applied
for and approved on the Goose Lake
Reserve la 10,500 head; total Dum
ber of botaea, 8u0 head, and thel total
number of sheep, 07,700 head.